Roundabout sparks other improvements in Rochester

Monday

ROCHESTER — Officials in Rochester are hoping that in an, ahem, roundabout way, the now-completed infrastructure work in the center of town is going to do much more than simply ease traffic hassles.

In fact, they’re looking for the Rochester Roundabout and the associated improvements to the Beaver County Transit Authority’s property nearby to serve as a catalyst for renewed interest in the borough’s Brighton Avenue business district.

By now most are familiar with the roundabout, the traffic circle that replaced two lights and a tangled intersection at Adams Street and Rhode Island and Brighton avenues. The lights there used to take more than two minutes to complete a cycle, causing traffic backups at peak hours in all directions.

The $1.8 million roundabout eliminated the lights, the waiting and, for the most part, the traffic problems associated with the area.

“The effect the roundabout has had in that area is astonishing,” said Frank Mercier, the borough’s police chief. “Traffic has been much smoother, and outside of a couple fender-benders, we haven’t seen any significant problems there. I can’t say it enough — that roundabout has been a great thing for Rochester so far.”

But the roundabout is just one portion of a

bigger project; the

$1.8 million grant to design and build it was a chunk of $3.2 million in grants to renovate the building and grounds owned by BCTA just off the roundabout. That work is now complete as well, and BCTA formally dedicated the project on Friday.

“We’re happy that our piece of the puzzle is

done as well,” said Mary Jo Morandini, the authority’s general manager. “Our customers will notice a difference, and it’s made things much easier for our employees as well.”

The changes at the BCTA’s Rochester Transportation Center include an expanded park-and-ride lot, improvements to the customer service center and a streamlined terminal. The project was capped with a new paint job for the building.

Morandini said the immediate effects of the investment are clear. Follow-up traffic studies show backups on Rhode Island Avenue — the street coming off the Rochester-Monaca Bridge — have been reduced by 95 percent. And another problem — the 500 vehicles that used to sneak around the old intersection by using West Washington Street — has been reduced by 35 percent.

“The bottom line is that traffic through that area has been improved by nearly any measure,” Morandini said. “That’s a big thing for us; we’ve really reduced delays, and it gives our riders a measure of comfort, knowing that they’re not going to be late if they’re taking the bus.”

There is hope for improvements down the

road as well. Morandini said one of the primary reasons for the project, as identified in a 2006 study, was that the traffic improvements would make Rochester’s Brighton Avenue business district more desirable.

“And I think we’re starting to see that,” Morandini said.

Morandini said at least one property owner had received a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development grant to improve a Brighton Avenue building, and another is on the way. The corridor will soon receive LED traffic signals and sidewalk improvements beyond the immediate area of the roundabout.

And, she said, business owners are starting to take notice of the business district again.

“Look at the improvements made at Hollywood Gardens — that’s the kind of thing we were hoping for,” she said. “I think we’ll see other investments like that in the future.”

That’s what Mercier is looking for as well.

“I know that that project has made a big difference in Rochester already,” the chief said. “And even now that the work is

done, I think that’s it’s going to make things better here.”

Roundabout recognition

Since it opened last summer, the Rochester roundabout has done what it was intended to do: improve the flow of traffic through what had been a perpetually congested area. It’s also been recognized twice this year for its design and its function:

In January, BCTA, Whitman, Requardt & Associates — the project’s design consultants — and local PennDOT officials received the 2012 Diamond Award for engineering excellence from the Pennsylvania chapter of the American Council of Engineering Companies.

In February, the same team was recognized by the Allegheny County Airport Corridor Transportation Association with that group’s Improving Mobility Award for 2012.

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